Apparatus for launching a lifeboat



1933- H. F. PETlT-COLAS ET AL 1,931,432

APPARATUS FOR LAUNCHING A LIFEBOAT Filed Nov. 30. 1932 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 fli 3 3 1 6 6 4 4. F a T fnz/enionr F- 3 17mm)? Paid-614d Louis Jfiesnz'er 5 Mdm Z5. Aiiorney Oct. 17, 1933. I :1. F. PETIT-COLAS-ET AL 1,931,432

APPARATUS FOR LAUNCHING A LIFEBOAT Filed Nov. 50, 1932 5 Sheets-Sheet liiarney.

17, 1933- H. F. PETlT-COLAS ET AL 1,931,432

APPARATUS FOR LAUNCHING A LIFEBOAT Filed Nov. 30, 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 lll Patented Oct. 17, 1933 HAPPARATUS'FOR 1,931,432; I LAUNcmNG A LIFEIBOA'J.

Henri Fernand. refit-Coho, Gourna y-en-Caux" ,par Harflenr, and

Havre, France 1 Application November Louis Jules Besnier, I I

' so, 1932," Serial No.

645,136; and' in France 4, 1931 I 3 Claims.

It is known that the launching'and raising of shipslifeboats is generallyefiected by man power by traction or releaselof the fall=or rope of the tackle for the davit. 1Now, this, operation I is long and tedious.

convenience'of irregularity in the raising orrlow ering and often of a dangerous inclinationpf the. boats due to thewantof uniformityotthe release or the pull on pulley blocks of the same ;.l vessel. I p g.

Finally, the attachment of thepulley blocks I to the boats does not afford absolute security audit has been found that 'in the'haste made in the operation at-.the:time.of a'disaster this l6 attachment maynot have been verified so causing the dr'oplof one end of.t he'.ves sel. The present invention'lias' tor qbject, to over.- come these variousinconveniencesand to render the operationof launching orr'aising the life-boats of ships very easy and very certain.

' 'For this purpose-it'pfovides f or the-fittingto the boats themselves o! an apparatus :which will permit a rapid operation and which is also gentle and precise: givinganabsolute security all the time. i I i 1 This apparatus consists :first of: all of adouble winch secured tothe-wboat and comprising-two identical drums inseparably together 1 by two identical gears; Said drums are actuated either by hand; or by any suitable motor through the intermediary of thesaidgear and .of a vde- I multiplying anangementflconsistin'g oi. an end-.

less screw or pinion wheels.

aid apparatus is..completed' clutch and brake mechanism operated manually. or automatically or both ways, which I provides great 1 I smoothness and great. reliability in movement:

It isithusth'at in a construction'which has been thought preferable,;'the apparatus compredetermined value even it there is -lackbt-in- 'spectionduring' the operation;

Moreover, in this formof :eonstructiongtlie apparatus likewise comprises brakin'g'meansioperated manually whlch permits of rcducing'the speed of the boatanduto retainthe latter at a lateral teeth or dogs 10a and which in'addition short distance from .the' hull and in ;this way give great precisioningthe handling. I Finally, the invention prpvides foran arrangeirom, theother extremityof the cables remaming constantly secured tojthe davitsoncathead .55 of the boat;

I drawings which show: It has, in addition thein- I of Fige-8; I

. 8 (FigsfhahdZ) prises means for, the automatic adjustment-=01 the speed or lowering limitingthe' latterto a II 1 and slides freely on shaftr9s ment for instantaneously .flxing the cables on thedrums or their rapid-disengagement there- I .l dogs 12a similar'to the teeth or dogs log of the 'The invention will moreover be better understood from a perusal of the Iollowing descrip-' tion, reference being had toithegaccompanying Figs 1 and; 2 the apparatus 'mounted'ion a .lifeboat, in longitudinal section and in plan;

- Fig. -3 'a. first form of construction oi the ap- I paratus seen in elevation;

. Fig; '4,.-a-.section taken on. the line 4-4 of Fig.3;- 1 I Fig. .5, the sameapparatus seen in plan view; 1

Fig. 6,,the method "of fixing the cables to the Fig. 7, a'second formof constructionpofthe apparatus seen in section taken on the line '7-'7 8, a section taken .in a horizontal plane passing through -the line 8-.8101 Figure 7 Fig.- 9,Ia;part section taken on'the line 2 9 o1. Figure'lL I TheI apparatus realized according to the. in-', vention comprisesessentially a frame 1 secured ,to the-middle of the, boat and-carrying; t'wo drums 2 eonnectedbytwqfsimilaror equal gear The drumsv 2 are preferably provided with dgroovesgfor guidingthe. cables'4. These latter I are securedto the davits or cathead's of the'ship ortoan'y other installation. After having passed through hawse holes 51 prdv'idedlin the bridge 35 --work of the boat the cables' pass. over twopulleys -=6 an d each windsfround a drum 2 after having beenpassed beneath it. I I I =In-thefir stqform of construction the frame consists of two symmetrical cheeks (Figs; 3 to 5) suitably I l braced, but this .irame given gsim'ply byway of example. can beotherwise constructed.

The drums can be manually operated or driven by motor through ademultiplyingsp'eed .gear. Inthe saidconstruction .(Fig. 3 to'5) this arrangement comprises 1 flrstof all a wheel '1 with helicoidal teeth, fastened on the shaft on spindle of-oneof the drums and meshing with .an endless screw 8 which is irreversible, keyed on' the drivingshaft 9 and actuated manually or mechanically. 1 j Thesocket of a crank handle 10 which has carries a tooth wheel llrigid therewith rotates I v0n theshaft 9 is also secured a toothed wheel .12 the hub of which is provided with teeth'or crankhandle'socket and capable of coming into towards the wheel 12 of said socket on the shaft 9.

the wheel 15. This positionisprovided forthe The toothed wheel 12 is constantly in mesh with another toothed wheel 13 of larger diamraising of the boat during'which the movement.

of the crank handle must be transmitted mor'e slowly to the screw 8.

On the contrary, in the opposite position, the socket of the crank handle -,10 is intermeshedby the gear 11 with the shaft 14, thus forming'a the screw '8 with a restricted number of .turns ofthe crank handle,

18 suitabl'yelbow'ed to form resilient bosses pre- Iq vided"to permit of their"rapid rotationi as follows:

I demultiplying speed gear which permits, at the lowering, to obtain an increased speed .through The'method of fixing thecablese 'o'n thedrums drums. For this purpose,jvarious arrangements considered preferable"'(Fig.' 6) the' endof each cable 4 is fitted with asleeve16'. Theflatter penetrates into a sheathl'l 'lodgedinthe hub 2a of each drum 2. This. sheath is provided in- I ternally' with a certain number of spring blades venting the sleeve 16 of the cableifrom coming ioutofthe sheath unless a strong pull is exerted thereon. A determined numberv of spirals or turns of the cable aroundthe. drums must-be allowed forthelowest position of the boat in orde'r'to' permit of a dirfifiipullonthe c'ableand its sleeve 16 before the final "stage of the launch- ,i eration,

Nevertheless, to abridge the rotation-bf the I drums necessary for un'windingthe excess of cable around them, a clutch device maybe pro- In. this way (Figs. 3 and 4); the hub of'the drum 2 mountedjon the same shaft "as the toothed wheel 7 canlbe 'provided'with'teeth' or dogs integral with. a dog clutch 1 9 c'apable of engaging with the wheel '7' turning loosely or' freely on the'shaft of the drum.

a A fork 20 is mounted on a shaft 21 which receives its movement fro'm ,a clutch lever 22 pro truding beyond the frame 1. 1

The operation .of the Q apparatus I is therefore j 'For'launching the crank handle 10 is pulled .towards the operator, the speedgear intervenes,

carried by anintermediate shaft 9a.

15'ffixed thereon, a'nd-meshingwith a'pinion wheel 11 provided on'the driving shaft9;

I I It will be seen that in this case the train of must allow of their easy separation from; said "gear wheels is t'r'anformed into a speed reducing j -j can be adoptedjbut according to a construction .theless receive modifications and instead of comprising an endless screw, could consist simply of a train of gear wheels provided with appropriate safety devices.

"""Thus for example in a further constructional form of the apparatus (Figs. 7 and 8) the two *drums, integral with their two similar gears 3, s

are driven through the intermediary of a pinion Wheel 7 engaging with one of the-gears 3 and On this shaft is'secur'eda toothed wheel. 12 meshing with-apinion wheel 13' of a second intermediate shaft 9b. This shaft carries atoothed wheel sequently withthe sudden descent of the boat, '1 -05 various devices; for br'aking and safety may be provided.-

'In theform of construction illustrated, the motor'shaft 9 is provided with a brake with shoes 23 (Figs 'lj and 9) operated by. means. 01 .a lever 24; 1.,protruding fat the exterior. of. the frame 1, b'utthisbrake might equally well be in the formof a drum, or cable'brake and so on.

Moreover, to automaticallyregula te thespeed g ofthe descent, it is possible to establish'onthe driving-r shaft 9 or-on.0ne of; the intermediate shafts 9 for example,- a centrifugal braking .device 25 (Fig. 8) acting in'adrum 26 integral with the frame and comprising masses or blade$i "braking-the rotationof the said-shaft all the more energetically as the-speed becomes greater.

'For theiraising of the boat, the shaft 9 is operated by thecrankhandles 10 and tdprevent any escape occurring, a safety device should "1 5 ,be fittedon the said shaft; 1

For this 'p urposef'a ratchet 2'l (Figs. 7 and9) is arranged on theshaft Q and'a paw1.28.. oper-' ated from, the outside by a lever 29 ;can' be ar-;

ranged to prevent Q any backward return 'off' the crank handles. For the lowering foperatiqn'the pawl 28 is, reversed and held in such position by cables 4 unwind exactly the same @mountia stopt 30.80 as notitolfall back onto. the teeth obtained.

I. during'the rotation of the drumsv 2 which is even,,and thev boat is lowered; I Byacting on the crank handle the desired ,speed,ofjlowering is; When the boat has reached the water, the; drums are instantaneously released from the helicoidal wheel 7 byacting on theclutch leverf 22. The cables unwind of theirown free will, 5

"always evenly, and the boat be'com'es'free of; such ingfrom the davits, are passed into thefhawse cables without anyparticular operation for this I For the raising of the boat, the cablesfl hangholes 5 then over the pulleys 6 then the terminal I ;sleev es 16 are engaged in the sheaths 17 of the,

idrums. Thecrankhandle 10 canjbef setinto a speed of descent so as to wi'ndup the 's'lack'necof the; ratchet the smoothness desired. 1

'At the moment when the boat comes v near to the hullyit is then possible by acting on the lever 24 to brake the rotation of'the shaft 9" I "which is very rapid "and check the descending movement to thespeed desired so'as to bring the boat into the Water with all the precision and The hand brake 24 obviously allowsoflockin or holding the shaft 9 as soon as it is considered desirable.

For the raising operation, the pawl 28 is placed in contact with the ratchet wheel 2'? and then, by, means of the crank handle 10 the shaft 9 is rotated and the boat is slowly and gently raised. e 7

It is evident that in both forms of construction here above described it is possibleto actuate the shaft 9 by means of a motor, through a pulley and a pinion wheel or any other appropriate manner with, in case of need, the interposition of a clutch mechanism.

It is likewise possible in both these cases to provide on the drums, two blades 31 (Figs. 3, 4, 5 and 7) mounted onan axle 32 and the tail ends of which are caused by a spring 33 to press on all the strands of the cable wound upon eachof the drums 2. V a

The arrangements herein above described way of simple explanation, remain nevertheless susceptible of receiving modifications in form and detail without thereby exceeding the spirit of the invention.

What we claim, is:

1. In an apparatus for launching and raising lifeboats on ships, two drums in the lifeboat, a gearing for said drums to ensure their synchronous rotation, two cables fixed with their one extremity to the vessel and with their other extremity to said drums, a terminal sleeve secured to the end of the said cables, a sheath integral with the hub of each of said drums, and adapted to receive said sleeve, and blade springs inthe said sheath to maintain the sleeve in said sheath but to permit of its release by simple pull thereon.

2. In an apparatus for launching and raising ships lifeboats, two identical drums in the lifev boat, a gearing to ensure their synchronous rotation, a driving shaft, means to actuate said ships lifeboats, two identical drums in the lifeboat, agearing to ensure their synchronous rotation, a driving shaft, a speed gear, means to actuate said driving shaft either directly or through the medium of said speed gear, two

cables fixed with their one extremity to the ship and'with their other extremity to said drums, a brake to limit the speed of the said driving shaft at the lowering of the boat, anda ratchet I wheel fast on the driving shaft, to prevent an imintentional descent upon the rasing of the lifeboat.

- HENRI FERNAND PETIT-COLAS.

LOUIS JULES BESNIER. 

